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JMU finishes regular season at No. 1

Sun 23rd, November 2008

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - James Madison closed out the regular season Saturday with a 58-27 Colonial Athletic Association victory on the road over Towson and stayed on top of The Sports Network FCS top-25 poll.

The Dukes (10-1) received 74 first-place votes and 2,018 points to retain their lead for the eighth consecutive week. JMU is expected to be the top seed when the 16-team NCAA Division I Football Championship field is released on Sunday evening.

In all, the top seven teams remained the same for the second week in a row.

Three-time defending national champion Appalachian State (10-2) toppled host Western Carolina 35-10 to hang on to the Old Mountain Jug and maintained its spot at No. 2 in the poll. The Mountaineers, who began the season at No. 1 and retained that ranking until a 35-32 loss to JMU on Sept. 20 in Harrisonburg, VA., picked up the other seven first-place votes and 1,936 points.

Cal Poly (8-2) dropped a 36-35 heartbreaker in overtime to Wisconsin, but that impressive showing to a Big Ten team on the road allowed the Mustangs to hold on to the No. 3 position in the poll.

Northern Iowa (10-2) squeezed past Southern Utah 34-24 on the road to remain at No. 4, while Montana (11-1) beat arch-rival Montana State 35-3 in the 108th edition of the Brawl of the Wild to stay at No. 5.

Villanova's 21-7 victory at Delaware in the Battle of the Blue allowed the Wildcats (9-2) to continue in the No. 6 slot, while Richmond (9-3) came in at No. 7 again after winning 23-20 in overtime at William & Mary in the 118th game of the south's most-played rivalry. The Spiders blew a 20-3 fourth- quarter lead, but their victory in what was probably a playoff-elimination game dropped William & Mary from 16th to 19th in the voting.

Wofford, Southern Illinois and New Hampshire, all 9-2, came away with victories to jump one spot apiece and finish out the top 10 at the eighth, ninth and 10th positions. Southern Illinois earned a 17-10 win at Illinois State to clinch the Missouri Valley Conference automatic bid.

Central Arkansas (10-2), a transitional school that is ineligible for the playoffs and the Southland Conference crown, finished with the most wins in the league at 6-1 and were rewarded with 11th in the poll by beating McNeese State, 47-30, at home. McNeese State (7-4) fell from 14th to 18th as its postseason dreams were crushed, while UCA hopped up two places.

Weber State (9-3) tumbled four places to No. 12 after a 33-26 loss at home to Eastern Washington cost it an outright Big Sky championship for the first time and probably will keep the Wildcats from receiving a top-four seed in the playoffs.

South Carolina State's 55-0 win over North Carolina A&T enabled the Bulldogs (10-2) to slide up two spots into 13th in the poll.

Liberty (10-2) had the largest rise of any team, skyrocketing from 22nd to 14th after a 26-3 shelling of Elon (8-4). Elon dropped from 12th to 17th and likely watched its playoff hopes evaporate.

Harvard's 10-0 triumph at home against Yale in the 125th meeting between the two rivals gave the Crimson (9-1) an Ivy League co-championship with Brown and voters moved Harvard from 19th to 15th in the poll.

Colgate (9-2) clinched an automatic bid to the playoffs with a heart-stopping 28-27 comeback win at home over Holy Cross to win the Patriot League and the Raiders leaped from 21st to 16th.

Maine (8-4) had its six-game win streak snapped in its 28-24 loss at home to New Hampshire and dropped from 17th to 20th.

Completing the top-25 were No. 21 Eastern Kentucky (8-3), followed by Jacksonville State (8-3), Texas State (8-4), Tennessee-Martin (8-4) and Prairie View (9-1).

Eastern Kentucky clinched the Ohio Valley Conference automatic bid by holding off Tennessee-Martin 33-31 to crawl back into the poll. Texas State clinched the automatic bid from the Southland by beating Sam Houston State 48-45 in overtime to make its first appearance in the poll this season.

Prairie View, which had a bye week, made its first-ever appearance in the poll at No. 25.

Furman, Western Illinois and Tennessee State all dropped out of the poll after losses to Wofford, Youngstown State and Murray State.